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Forums - Sales Discussion - April NPD (Circana) 2023 Thread + Predictions

April 2023 Circana (NPD) covers the four week period from April 2 to April 29 and will be released on May 17.

Be sure to get your predictions in before May 17. Since NPD leaks don't happen nearly as often as it used to and hardware revenue is something we do get, be sure to include revenue in your predictions.

Feel free to also predict what you think the top software games will be for the month.

Example prediction:

[Total Hardware Revenue]

  1. [#1 selling console] XXX,000
  2. [#2 selling console] XXX,000
  3. [#3 selling console] XXX,000

Results:

TLDR:

Units: NSW > PS5 > XS
Revenue: PS5 > NS > XS

YTD Units: PS5 > NS > XS
YTD Revenue: PS5 > NS > XS

Full breakdown article:

Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in April, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Debuts in 1st

The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in April 2023 in terms of units sold, according to figures from Circana (formerly The NPD Group). NPD includes the dates for the four week period of April 2 to 29.

The Nintendo Switch – OLED Model The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Edition released at the end of April and helped boost the sales of the console.

The PlayStation 5 was the second best-selling console in terms of units sold, followed by the Xbox Series X|S in third place. Unlike in March when the PlayStation 5 set a new individual PlayStation sales record, it was "not particularly close" in setting a PlayStation record in April.

In terms of dollar sales, the PlayStation 5 was number one, followed by the Nintendo Switch in second place, and the Xbox Series X|S is in third.

2023 year-to-date the PlayStation 5 is best-selling console in terms of both units sold and dollar sales, while the Nintendo Switch is in second in both rankings, and the Xbox Series X|S comes in third.

Overall spending on video games in April was down five percent year-on-year from $4.32 billion to $4.12 billion. Spending on video game content decreased six percent from $3.82 billion to $3.60 billion, while video game hardware sales jumped seven percent from $343 million to $367 million.

Overall spending on video games in 2023 year-to-date is down two percent from $18.11 billion to $17.71 billion. Spending on video game content decreased four percent from $15.79 billion to $15.11 billion, while video game hardware sales is up 18 percent from $1.55 billion to $1.82 billion.

"Consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories reached $4.1 billion, a 5% drop when compared to a year ago," said Circana Executive Director and Video Game Industry Analyst Mat Piscatella. "A 6% decline in April spending on video game content offset 7% growth in hardware."

Piscatella added, "Video game hardware spending grew 7% when compared to YA, to $367M. This is the highest video game hardware spend for an April month since the $420M reached in April 2020. Double-digit percentage growth in both PS5 and Switch dollar sales offset declines on other platforms.

"PlayStation 5 was the best-selling hardware platform in dollar sales during April, while Switch led the market in units sold. PlayStation 5 leads the 2023 hardware market year-to-date across both units and dollars."

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor debuted at the top of the software charts (ranked by dollar sales) and is the fourth best-selling game of 2023. The game was only available in two days of tracking on the April charts. 

Dead Island 2 debuted in second place and is the sixth best-selling game of 2023. PGA Tour debuted in seventh place, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection debuted in eighth, Minecraft Legends debuted in 11th, Final Fantasy I-VI Bundle debuted in 14th, and Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp debuted in 15th.

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for April 2023:

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in 2023 year-to-date:

Last edited by trunkswd - on 17 May 2023

VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

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hardware 1 ps5 2 switches 3 xbox revenue 1 ps5 2 switches 3 xbox



This one is kind of difficult. I will guess:

1. [Ps5] 450k
2. [Switch] 245k
3. [Xbox] 110k

Again I am going conservative with PS5. I'm probably low again but given the 35% MoM drop in the UK, I don't want to go too high.
Switch is low this month but next month should be higher and may even be able to beat PS5.
Xbox is low and no honest person would expect otherwise.

The Switch WILL beat Xbox Rev.



jvmkdg said:

hardware 1 ps5 2 switches 3 xbox revenue 1 ps5 2 switches 3 xbox



Honestly, the first prediction is definitely what most will expect the outcome to be.

Despite the now availability of the PS5, I'm expecting that month to be quite down MoM simply due the fact there was barely any big software to also push people to buy the hardware.

PS5 - 425K

Switch - 280K

X Series - 180K



Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909 

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series x needs a price cut.. Im seeing them sit on the shelf a lot longer the last month or so and even the ps5 are starting to slow down in my area.



PS5 450k
Switch 300k (Zelda Boost)
Xbox Series 150k
400 m hardware revenue



Please excuse my (probally) poor grammar

Qwark said:

PS5 450k
Switch 300k (Zelda Boost)
Xbox Series 150k
400 m hardware revenue

The Zelda boost doesn't happen before May though 



Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909 

Mar1217 said:
Qwark said:

PS5 450k
Switch 300k (Zelda Boost)
Xbox Series 150k
400 m hardware revenue

The Zelda boost doesn't happen before May though 

Zelda OLED model launched at the end of April. 



VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

trunkswd said:
Mar1217 said:

The Zelda boost doesn't happen before May though 

Zelda OLED model launched at the end of April. 

Oh welp, thought it happened during last week 



Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909